A slightly different direction, but does anyone know a good unbiased site to go to to compare the people running in the lesser elections. We are voting for more then just president and I don't know anything about these other people. I am not one to just vote down a party line, but would like to have some information to try to make at least a slightly informed decision rather then walking in and not even recognizing any names.

I guess I could just vote for all the challengers, to counteract all those incumbent votes

PMB, you really are easy to fool. You really think the Mullahs running Iran prefer a Bush victory when Bush has identified them as 1/3 of the axis of evil and has already taken out Iraq?

In case you missed the mullah's sense of humor, here's a report that the Revolutionary Guards have written your friend Kofi Annan and requested observer status so they can monitor our presidential elections. They want to be present at polling places so they can ridicule voters and advise them that Iran is the most democratic government in the world. I don't know, perhaps you agree.

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"Iran's hardline Basij militia has written to UN secretary general Kofi Annan to ask if the Islamic republic can send observers to the US presidential election in November, a government newspaper said.

"By this symbolic request, we want to ridicule the so-called democratic slogans of the American leaders," a Basij official, Said Toutunshian, told the Iran newspaper.

"We want to say to the whole world that the presence of observers from the Islamic republic of Iran, the most democratic regime in the world, is necessary to guarantee the smooth running of the American elections."

The Basij is a volunteer army attached to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic republic's ideological army.

Predominantly Western groups frequently send observers to pass judgment on the "democratic status" of elections in other countries."
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PMB, you may also be interested to note that 8 democratic congressmen have also asked Kofi Annan to permit observers from Syria, North Korea and Iran in order to help guaranty free elections here in the USA.

"WASHINGTON – The United Nations has turned down a controversial request by nine members of the U.S. Congress to assign international observers to the U.S. presidential election in November.

The request came in the form of a letter drafted by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, and signed by eight other members of the House.

"We are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy," the lawmakers wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"Besides Johnson, the other representatives signing the letter to Annan – all Democrats – were Julia Carson of Indiana; Jerrold Nadler, Edolphus Towns, Joseph Crowley and Carolyn B. Maloney, all of New York; Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Corrine Brown of Florida, Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, Danny K. Davis of Illinois and Michael M. Honda of CaliforniaJohnson was an early supporter of Sen. John Edwards' campaign for the presidency. Yesterday Edwards was selected as John Kerry's Democratic Party running mate.

"Generally, the United Nations does not intervene in electoral affairs unless the request comes from a national government or an electoral authority – not the legislative branch," said U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

Nevertheless, the proposal by Johnson and the other members of the House has raised the hackles of Republicans and others who saw irony in the timing of the announcement – just before America's Independence Day celebrations.

"Let me get this straight," wrote Joe Mariani in GOPUSA.com. "A group of Democrats want to bring some people from countries like North Korea, Iran, Syria, China and Cuba – people that have never seen a democratic election in their lifetimes – to sit in judgment on our elections? What kind of voodoo politics is that? The last time a foreign body had any direct influence over the political process of this country, the situation was corrected by a war for our freedom from British rule. Are these so-called Americans so willing to surrender that hard-won right of self-determination now, and to such a shamelessly scandal-ridden group of anti-American dictatorships and terrorist sympathizers? We may as well dissolve the Union now and save ourselves the pain of watching it done for us."

The Democrats said they feared a repeat of the 2000 election, which was won by George W. Bush, a Republican, through the Electoral College count even though he lost the popular vote.

The Democrats had asked in the letter for "international election monitors" to watch for "questionable practices and voter disenfranchisement on Election Day."

The Democratic Congress members wrote that they did not think sufficient reforms had been implemented to prevent another voting debacle.

"As the next Election Day approaches, there is more cause for alarm rather than less," the letter said.

Because the U.N. Charter bars violations of sovereignty, the State Department, or perhaps the Federal Election Commission, would have to invite observers, said U.N. officials. Monitoring would also have to be approved by the Security Council or the General Assembly.

Since the rule of thumb for vote monitoring is one observer for each 100 polling sites, about 2,000 foreigners would have to be deployed from Key West to Anchorage.

Johnson's letter points to "widespread allegations of voter disenfranchisement" in Florida and other states in 2000, and it cites an April report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that found potential for "significant problems" this time around.

"As lawmakers, we must assure the people of America that our nation will not experience the nightmare of the 2000 presidential election," Johnson wrote. "This is the first step in making sure that history does not repeat itself," she added.

The Nov. 7, 2000, election was decided 36 days later when the U.S. Supreme Court made two rulings that stopped Democratic challenger Al Gore's attempt to recount some of the Florida votes. A number of independent investigations confirmed President Bush won the state's 25 electoral votes, giving him a total of 271 to Gore's 267.

Tom Kilgannon, president of Freedom Alliance, a group dedicated to protecting American sovereignty, admonished Johnson and her colleagues.

"Your appeal to the secretary general is alarming and embarrassing," he said. "As a Member of Congress sworn to uphold the Constitution and represent the people of the United States, it is disturbing, to say the least, that you would entrust the most sacred act of American democracy – our presidential election – to an international institution, which is unaccountable to the American people and mired by scandal and corruption."

Kilgannon said the request "undermines U.S. sovereignty, demoralizes American servicemen who are fighting to build democratic governments abroad and sends the message worldwide that the United States is nothing more than a Third World nation unable to police itself."

Stories about the action by the members of Congress appeared all over the world – from Tehran to Uraguay and to China."
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So, PMB, do you sense that the Democratic Party has drifted somewhere into the dark regions of insanity? A substantial portion of the Democratic party's coallition hates America ... the party has to cater to its constituents. That's the problem with the new Democratic party.

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Enjoy the Music. Trust your ears. Laugh at Folks Who Claim to Know it All.

A substantial portion of the Democratic party's coallition hates America.

I can't take you seriously or have a civil, respectful conversation with you if you continue to make that accusation. Look back in this thread's recent history to see my feelings on this entirely incorrect crutch of an accusation.

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"I wish I had documented more…" said nobody on their death bed, ever.

pmb, if you read the article I quoted which reports that 8 Democrat congressmen wrote Kofi Annan and requested observers from Iran, Syria, and North Korea to monitor our elections for fairness, I am sure you would also conclude that these folks either have a bizarre sense of humor or hate America. Now, if you agree with their request, I'll revise my opinion of you. So, please don't take my post as suggesting that you or most Democrats hate America. I'm not suggesting that all Democrats hate the USA, but I think there is a Democratic constituency which does. I'm a registered Democrat, and have been since before there were Axiom speakers. I'm just honest enough to admit that there's a problem here and wish the Democratic leadership would come out and denounce the request of these 8 Congressmen.

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Enjoy the Music. Trust your ears. Laugh at Folks Who Claim to Know it All.

Much of the currently perceived threat from international terrorism, the series argues, "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services, and the international media." The series' explanation for this is even bolder: "In an age when all the grand ideas have lost credibility, fear of a phantom enemy is all the politicians have left to maintain their power."

Before you dismiss this series altogether, please read the article linked above first. Then argue.

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"I wish I had documented more…" said nobody on their death bed, ever.